“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” – Winston Churchill
Those of you that have read my newsletters regularly over the past 12 months will know that there are two recurring topics:
1. HR strategy in smaller companies
2. The works of Patrick Lencioni
The overarching topic is execution of HR strategy (with execution being the key word) and I’m going to use the concept of one of Lencioni’s more recent pieces of work to help guide us on the journey.
Let’s start with the concept of strategy itself.
There are lots of myths about strategy in business. For many, it is a confusing, almost mystical word that tries hard to avoid having a succinct meaning. I remember in my early days in HR leadership asking ‘more experienced’ HR leaders what this idea of strategy was. Their answers often baffled and confused.
I now know that there are two reasons why it was hard to get a clear answer from them. The first was because they didn’t really know, but didn’t want to admit that they didn’t know, so applied the triple B principle*. They used long-winded, but meaningless phrases to explain.
The second was that they knew what strategy was, they knew it was simple in concept, but didn’t want to give this simplicity secret away so deliberately dressed it up to elevate themselves in the eyes of fresh-faced HR peeps like me.
The simplest description that I have found is:
A strategy is a vision of the future and a plan to get there.
Of course, there is more to it than that. And don’t confuse simplicity of explanation with creation and delivery being easy. Strategy work is hard work. But if we can at least start with a simple explanation we can get to the important hard parts more quickly.
For smaller companies simplicity is key though. With limited resources, money and time, smaller companies will move forward far more effectively with a simpler strategy. To paraphrase Einstein, it should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.
So, getting back to execution of strategy. It might feel that strategy creation is hard work, but it’s when the design is completed that the real work starts. There is no point in having an incredible strategy on paper if nothing in your business changes. I do wonder, though, how many polished strategy documents there are gathering dust in the desk drawers of small company executives.
Anyway, execution – this is where one of Lencioni’s tools comes into the frame. The 6 Types of Working Genius is a wonderful model that has two very valuable insights into the workplace; the first is that it helps individuals understand the types of work that naturally give them energy and joy. This is so powerful for leaders and strategic HR professionals, however, it’s not the point I want to focus on for this article.
The 6 Types of Working Genius Model from Patrick Lencioni
I want to focus specifically on the other valuable aspect of the model – using it as a framework for getting work done effectively.
The Working Genius model states that there are 6 stages to any piece of work. These are (in order):
• Wonder: Identifying the need for change
• Invention: Generating ideas & solutions
• Discernment: Assessing workability of ideas
• Galvanising: Inspiring & pushing to action
• Enablement: Helping move things forward
• Tenacity: Ensuring successful results
They conveniently create the acronym WIDGET
The creation of a strategy is clearly the first two stages W & I
The execution of a strategy is the final two stages E & T.
But here’s the really valuable piece. So many times, with strategy, the middle 2 stages (D & G) are missed and this reduces the chances of the strategy being effective.
Two takeaways from The 6 Types of Working Genius:
1. Your strategy needs to be discerned before you move forward. Use others to help you stress-test it before you take it further.
2. Make sure that you galvanise your stakeholders with your strategy – consciously engage them and get them excited to give you every chance of success.
*The 3 B Principle: Bullshit Baffles Brains